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The ClearPath Action Fund is a super PAC that supports Republican candidates that it views as supportive of environmentalist-backed energy sources. It is a subsidiary of the ClearPath Foundation. Its goals include electing Republicans to office who support government support for solar and wind energy and to insert planks fighting against climate change into the platform of the Republican Party.

Leadership

The ClearPath Action Fund is led by North Carolina businessman Jay Faison. In 2015, he sold the majority of his stake in audio-visual equipment manufacturer Snap AV to found the environmentalist group ClearPath Foundation. The ClearPath Action Fund is the organization’s Super PAC that is allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money to help candidates in elections.[1]

Faison is a big Republican donor, and he and his organizations are not interested in dealing with Democrats. “I support a free enterprise system unshackled from bad regulation and big labor unions,” he wrote in Politico shortly after launching ClearPath, “but I also believe that my party needs a fresh approach” toward reversing climate change. [2]

Issues

ClearPath Action Fund supports legislation such as carbon capture technology that could theoretically be used to create so-called “clean coal” technology. It also supports legislation on electricity storage such as improved batteries.[3]

It is also a strong support of nuclear power and research into the commercial applications of nuclear technology. On that issue, it splits with radical environmentalists such as Greenpeace who oppose nuclear technology and power. It also splits with radical environmentalist groups such on the issue of hydroelectric power. ClearPath supports hydroelectric dams while most radical environmentalist groups such as the Sierra Club oppose them.[4]

Finances

In 2016, the PAC raised $4.4 million and spent $4.3 million with an ending cash on hand of $29,935. The fund spent $3 million in independent expenditures, all on behalf of Republican candidates. [5]

The bulk of the money raised for 2016 came from Faison. Other donors included Julian Robertson, who donated $500,000; Yancey Brothers Co., which donated $100,000; and William Oberndorf and Daniel Loeb, who each donated $50,000.[6]

The biggest expense in 2016 was $2.3 million for web ads in support of various Republican candidates. It made donations to Republican-aligned political committees such as the Senate Leadership Fund, the Congressional Leadership Fund, and the Ending Spending Action Fund.[7]

In 2018, the fund raised $1.9 million and spent $1.9 million. It had an ending cash on hand of $24,892.[8]

Just like in 2016, the bulk of the money raised for 2018 came from Jay Faison. The only other donor was John Arnold, who donated $50,000. [9]

Once again, the biggest expense was in media. The fund switched strategies and began advertising on other mediums. It only spent $50,000 on web ads and $1.4 million on “unspecified media buys.” [10]

In 2018, the fund backed Dean Heller and Martha McSally in the U.S. Senate. It also backed Carlos Curbelo, Steve Knight, Brian Mast, Erik Paulsen, Tom Reed, Scott W. Taylor, and Fred Upton in the U.S. House.[12]